Newsletter 3 25th September 2015

Dear Parent/ Carer,

First of all, some PTA news. As always we are planning to fully support the PTA events in the coming year and I continue to work closely with Kay, our PTA Chair to ensure that events run smoothly and there is a good level of teacher and staff participation. The funds raised are very much needed and so we appreciate all support, offers of help and participation from parents and the wider community. The first big event will be the Fashion Show on Tuesday 20th October 2015. The PTA are in need of donations for the raffle so kindly ask that if you have anything, to bring them into the school office, where they will be picked up or any questions to contact Kay Millson at PTA robinhoodprimarypta@gmail.com or via the PTA Facebook page.

Individual School Photographs will be taken on Wednesday 30^th September. The photographer will be available in the hall from 8:00a.m. to take photographs with younger siblings who do not attend our Nursery or school. All siblings in school will have their photographs taken together as well as individually.

Our Harvest celebration will be taking place this year on Friday 16^th October. It will take a different form to previous years. This year we will be holding a Harvest Hunt before school from 8:15 am. Please put this in your diaries and we will provide the details in a separate letter- it promises to be fun!

Following on from last week’s newsletter, please note that KS1 phase assembly will take place at 2:30 pm on Friday 16^th October.

We would like to make you aware that on a Friday afternoon the lost property box will be put inside the school office reception area for parents to come and look through on a weekly basis.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Dale

Newsletter 2 2015-2016

Dear Parent/ Carer,

It’s been a great first full week for our pupils and it has been a pleasure to go in and out of classrooms seeing the fantastic teaching and learning that has been going on.

Miss Pyatt will this year be studying for her Post Graduate Certificate of Special Educational Needs and taking on the role of SENCo alongside Mrs Cookson. I am sure that she will be a great support to Mrs Cookson and the families we work with.

Some great news - our school has been shortlisted as one of the Finalists for this year’s ASA Aquatics Awards 2015 for the ASA School Swimming Charter: Primary School of the Year Award. A ceremony will be held in Leamington Spa in November to hear if we are winners but in the meantime I would like to thanks Mrs Moore who has been a key driver in improving our swimming provision, also Mr Knight and Mr Grenfell for the expertise and support that has impacted on the quality of swimming lessons for our pupils.

Thanks to those who attended Welcome Meetings this week. Please be assured that further information regarding new assessment systems will be shared in the coming weeks.

Dates for your diary:

The Big Draw community drop-in: Tuesday 13^th October 3p.m.

Parent Consultation Week: week beginning 19^th October (details to follow)

Year 3/ 4 assembly: 23^rd October 2:30 pm

Reception assembly: 6^th November 2:30 pm

Nursery (1) assembly: 11^th November 11a.m. 

Nursery (2) assembly: 13^th November 2:30p.m.

Year 5/ 6 assembly: 20^th November 2:30

KS1 and Harvest celebration to be confirmed next week.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Dale

Newsletter 1 2015-2016

Dear Parent/ Carer,

WELCOME BACK! It was brilliant to see so many of you outside school on Wednesday and I have to say, the children have come back with nothing but enthusiasm and an eagerness to be the best they can! They have all settled exceptionally well into their new classes.

We welcome a number of new staff this week; Miss Johnston in Year 1, Mr Hallows in Year 5/ 6, apprentices Miss Moon and Mr Lamb in Year 3/ 4 and teaching assistant, Mrs Crossland in Nursery.

Teaching staff started the week off with two very busy and valuable training days which incorporated training on the use and development of Google apps for education, assessment without levels and the Big Maths scheme. It was extremely good use of our time and these agendas will undoubtedly impact on the quality of our classroom provision this year.

I started the week with an assembly which explained to the children about Queen Elizabeth becoming the longest reigning monarch in British history; I was impressed to see how many children already knew this!

Our Reception children have been settling in well this week, coming in for half of each day; we look forward to the first full week for all children from Reception upwards, next week. We also look forward to settling in the Nursery children over the course of the week.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Dale

Issue 39 2014-2015

Dear Parent/ Carer,

We have almost come to the end of the school year so I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody for their support this year.

We had a great poetry day at the start of the week, where several children won prizes for their fantastic performances. Andy Craven- Griffiths joined KS1 classes to teach them ways to perform certain types of poems. We also gave out the June Wood Award to two children who were deemed “All-Rounders” by their teachers. Well- deserved and well done!

With the Year 3/ 4 trip to the Lyceum Theatre to see the “Horrible Histories” show and a wonderful Golden Day in the mix, it has been a celebratory and fun week.

In light of some queries regarding payment of trips, I would like to ensure that everyone is aware of the “Charging and Remissions” policy on the website. Hopefully, that will answer any questions. I also take on board that some of the key info from this policy needs explicitly stating in letters home about trips so we will ensure that into next year, this is made clearer. Thanks for your suggestions.

Well everybody, we have two days left before we break off for 7 weeks so have a great summer if I do not see you before and remember that the first day back will be Wednesday 9^th September 2015.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Dale

Issue 38 2014-2015

Dear Parent/ Carer,

We are very happy to welcome back Miss Thackeray this week, who returns from her maternity leave following the birth of her daughter last year. Miss Thackeray will be covering Miss McSorley’s class until the end of term.

I am pleased to confirm that Mrs Sarah Crossland will be joining us as a Teaching Assistant in Nursery from September. Sarah has already added great value to our team as both classroom volunteer and lunchtime supervisor.

Some key dates for next year- Please take note of these and remember, we populate the school calendar on an on-going basis for your convenience:

TRAINING DAYS 2015-16- 7^th and 8^th September- The children return to school on the 9^th September. 4^th January 2016, 11^th March 2016 and 4^th July 2016.

SATs week 2016 will be the week beginning 9^th May.

REMINDER-School reports will be given out on Friday 17^th July. Year 6 parents will receive them in the post and we aim for them to arrive no later than next Friday.

We are all excited about the Transition Day on Monday- do drop in and meet your child’s new teacher if you can. You will be informed of dates for more formal welcome meetings at the start of next term before the end of term.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Dale

Issue 37 2014-2015

Dear Parent/ Carer,

This week has been one to remember for so many different reasons…where do I start?

At the start of the week, we took pupils from Years 1-6 to the South Leeds Stadium to enjoy their Sports Day; what a fantastic experience! The children loved the opportunity to race on a real athletics track whilst parents and school friends cheered on from the side. Thanks for your support.

The Festival of Learning day was a huge success with children carrying out activities of their choice across the day resulting in super quality outcomes; look out for the Festival of Learning blog created by our pupils, soon to be published on the website. Following a Year 6 violin performance and the school Big Dance performance, the community braved the fierce heat and joined us for our celebrations for the Grand Opening of the new building. It was such a privilege to be part of such a key event in the history of our school and we all felt very proud showing off the new building work to the community. It was great to welcome Alicia Blagg, our special guest and Great Britain gold medallist for diving who gave her inspirational story to the children of Robin Hood. A special thanks to those Year 6 children who did a great job of conducting the Guided Tours through school.

Which leads me onto my last comments….today we say goodbye to our Year 6’s with mixed emotions; sadness that they are leaving us but pride and celebration as we reflect on the years that they have all achieved such magnificent successes in an endless amount of ways. I hope that they all take a great deal away with them and continue their journey to even greater success with similar enthusiasm and commitment that we have seen day in, day out. Goodbye and good luck to you all.

Mrs Dale

Issue 36 2014-2015

Dear Parent/ Carer,

Today we bid farewell (for a while anyway) to Miss McSorley, who is commencing her maternity leave. We would all like to wish her very well indeed as she embarks on the most amazing journey with her new baby.

Next week will be a very busy one as we prepare for the leaving celebrations of our Year 6 pupils. There will be a prom, fish and chips and our leaver’s assembly amongst the special events. But please don’t forget everyone, that the Festival of Learning will take place next Wednesday (1^st July) to mark the official opening of the new building. Please come along! You will receive a flyer next week and there are posters around the school reminding you of what is happening that day. Please note that the Big Dance Performance at 3pm will be on the playground, not the top field as previously stated- a wise decision to safeguard against inclement weather!! We had a whole school practice on Thursday and I have to say, it looked great!

Following on from Reception’s Sports Day today, we will be continuing our school Sports Days next week as previously mentioned at John Charles Centre for Sport.

We welcomed local authority external moderators of our KS1 standards earlier this week. We are pleased to report that they agreed with all judgements made by the KS1 staff, which we are delighted about. Well done to all KS1 staff for their hard work in preparing for the process.

Finally, please note that Reception – Year 6 parents will find out who their new class teacher is on 6^th July; shortly ahead of our Transition Day on 13^th July.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Dale